There's an interesting story behind this concert in Hawaii in 1967. It was recorded because it was supposed to be released as a live album called 'Lei'd In Hawaii', but due to technical problems and weak performances the recordings weren't good enough. So the Beach Boys booked a studio in Los Angeles and re-recorded their "live" set with the intention of adding crowd noises later and passing it as a live album. It never came out, but several recordings from that studio session have been released through the years on various rarities compilations. At first these recordings were presented as pre-show rehearsals (cause they didn't want people to know that they were planning to release a fake live album cause the real thing wasn't good enough), but the truth is now common knowledge.

'Lei'd In Hawaii' would've been special because the group performed without backing musicians and without Bruce Johnston (but with Brian, who'd sometimes perform with the band on special occasions). So it's just the original five-piece line-up and it's interesting to hear complex songs like 'Good Vibrations' and 'Heroes And Villains' performed with just four instruments (Brian on keys, Al on bass, Carl on guitar and Dennis on drums).

There's an interesting story behind this concert in Hawaii in 1967. It was recorded because it was supposed to be released as a live album called 'Lei'd In Hawaii', but due to technical problems and weak performances the recordings weren't good enough. So the Beach Boys booked a studio in Los Angeles and re-recorded their "live" set with the intention of adding crowd noises later and passing it as a live album. It never came out, but several recordings from that studio session have been released through the years on various rarities compilations. At first these recordings were presented as pre-show rehearsals (cause they didn't want people to know that they were planning to release a fake live album cause the real thing wasn't good enough), but the truth is now common knowledge.

'Lei'd In Hawaii' would've been special because the group performed without backing musicians and without Bruce Johnston (but with Brian, who'd sometimes perform with the band on special occasions). So it's just the original five-piece line-up and it's interesting to hear complex songs like 'Good Vibrations' and 'Heroes And Villains' performed with just four instruments (Brian on keys, Al on bass, Carl on guitar and Dennis on drums).

Thank you, Joost. And you just gave me an idea for a much-deserved present for myself. The "Lei'd In Hawaii" rehearsal sessions CD is available here (as a CDR, but that's OK). I'll order it tomorrow.

First vid - doesn't go with the sound ... can hear Brian, but he's not there, and some harmony "Bop-m-bop"s are heard but not sung at that time. Seen a few vids here of "live" Good Vibrations, but none of them have video matching the audio. Are there any live vids of "Good Vibrations", i.e., on stage? P.S. - who's playing piano back there, looks familiar?

Smile Vibrations - is it all Brian on vox/instruments? Is it the new Smile just released, or is it an outtake from the 60s Smile that (?) never got fully finished/released?

Alexis, the first video is just a "music video" they did in 1967. Dennis Wilson is having a good time miming the tambourine. Bruce Johnston is playing the organ. This is an interesting mix with the Jew's harp at 1:43.

There are a few live videos of Good Vibrations on YouTube, but none from the 60s. I like this one from 1976. Brian Wilson appeared on stage....

A cool fact about Good Vibrations: Carl obviously sings lead on the verses, but the high notes are not him. "I hear the sound of a..." is Brian, and "...gentle word" is Carl again. "When I look..." is Brian, "...in her eyes" is Carl again. Brian was such a perfectionist at the time, if he thought a vocal from one of the other members was less than perfect he'd just do it himself. On all later live versions Carl effortlessly does the high notes, but you've got to remember that GV was only Carl's 5th ever lead vocal and he was still only 19 years old. On a sidenote: on the slow part ("Gotta keep those loving good vibrations a-happering with her"), Dennis plays the organ part.

It is, but the remarkable thing is that it's mostly based on a version of GV that pre-dates the familiar hit version. The original GV lyrics were written by Mike Love, Tony Asher and Brian, on the hit version all Asher's lyrics were ditched and replaced by new lyrics by Mike. For some reason Brian decided to use the original lyrics for his 2004 version. Mike obviously didn't like that.

Alexis, the first video is just a "music video" they did in 1967. Dennis Wilson is having a good time miming the tambourine. Bruce Johnston is playing the organ. This is an interesting mix with the Jew's harp at 1:43.

There are a few live videos of Good Vibrations on YouTube, but none from the 60s. I like this one from 1976. Brian Wilson appeared on stage....

A lot of Beach Boys fan don't like him, but I don't think he's as much of a bad guy as some people like to think. People dislike him for his lame sense of humor, because he's usually far from humble in interviews and because he often gave Brian and Dennis a hard time. But then again, I'm sure Brian and Dennis were often impossible to deal with. Even Carl got fed up with them in the mid/late 70s.

It did, it went to #2 in the UK and #10 in the US. But the previous Beach Boys albums all did better in the US, so it was a commercial failure but only relatively. I guess it just wasn't the music that people expected or wanted to hear from the Beach Boys.

Arranged and played a Billboard top 10 song while in high school; started a record production career one year later, and wound up producing a million seller "Hey Little Cobra"; wrote Billboard #1 song "I Write the Songs", covered by Barry Manilow, Frank Sinatra, and has sold 25 million records of it; wrote backing vocals and sang on recording of Elton John "Don't Let the Son go Down on Me" and Pink Floyd's "The Wall"; only Beach Boy with a Song of the Year Grammy.

He's shown he's got the writing chops, and the producing chops, why do you think he's dropped the ball on his solo work, Joost? Anyway, I'll definitely try before I buy when it comes to his solo stuff - thanks!